Mardy Gilyard, a Great Story

You all know that much of my love of sports is wrapped up in the stories. Or, maybe more accurately, the characters. Performance on the field is interesting enough, but I get truly excited when there’s something beyond just that. I’m only marginally interested in following athletes. I’m very interested in following people.

Ordinarily I’d have zero interest in the Cincinnati Bearcats football team. It’s nice that they’re 11-0 and poised to potentially win the Big East championship, but that doesn’t mean much to me. Still, I found myself quite taken with the story of Mardy Gilyard, the Bearcats’ senior receiver.

A sample:

The ledge awaited, and it was narrow. Gilyard wanted to jump off and go home. At home, nobody would let him. He called his mother.

“Mama, I’m coming ho –.” He didn’t get to finish the sentence.

“No, you’re not,” said Ms. Viola Gilyard Crudup, a formidable woman. “And if we see you here, we will ship you back.”

Not much to offer on this one in the way of analysis since the story truly speaks for itself. I recommend giving it a read — the full text is available here.

Very manageable group for the USA in today’s WC draw. England is prone to pooping in the bed and the US is a better team than Slovenia and Algeria.
If Onyewu can get healthy enough in time to neutralize the physicality of Rooney and Crouch, this will be a fun WC for The Great Satan.